Do You Remember These Four Forgotten Indian Cricketers?

The Indian cricket team scripted history by becoming the first Asian team to win a Test series against Australia, in Australia. Although the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli hogged the limelight, it was the youngsters like Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, and Mayank Agarwal that were the most impressive players in the series. Each one played their prescribed role to perfection to see India defend the Border-Gavaskar trophy this year.

However promising these youngsters may be, they have to be dealt with utmost care. A sudden outburst of fame and expectation may be a load too heavy for these players who have only recently entered the International cricketing scenario.

India’s cricket history pages are replete with young players, who were considered one of the most gifted cricketers, vane away as a resultant off excess publicity or overnight fame getting to the head.

Here are some of the most topline Indian cricketing names that were forgotten as quickly as they became famous:

Salil Ankola

Credits Twitter

Remember Ravi of 1998’s hit TV series Kora Kagaz? Well, the actor in the Renuka Shahane-starrer serial was none other than former international cricketer Salil Ankola.

Born in Solapur, the feisty right-arm fast bowler has the distinction of debuting for the Indian national team along with the Master-Blaster Sachin Tendulkar. The time was November 15, 1989. The venue: National Stadium, Karachi. However, even as Tendulkar would go on to take big strides to reach the pinnacle of Cricket, Ankola, on the other hand, would languish in obscurity, at least when it comes to cricket.

It was not a bad inning for a debut – Salil managed to take two wickets for 128 runs in the drawn test. He then swiftly went on to mark his ODI debut with a figure of 2/26.
However, what followed thereafter is unfortunate. Salil suffered from a string of injuries. Although he got called when fit, he would rarely be able to break into the starting XI. This situation got so worse he inspired a term – ‘Ankolad’- for players who get called for the team but do not play.

Salil kept on coming in and out of the starting XI when he got the opportunity to prove his worth in the Hero Cup against South Africa. He went on to have a successful stint in the game, scalping 3 wickets for 33 runs. Those were the breakthrough figures, and one that still remains his best numbers.

Consequently, he was rewarded for his performances with a call-up for the 1996 World Cup. In the one match that he was asked to play (against Sri Lanka), Ankola could not manage a single wicket. That may be considered as the final nail in the coffin for the talented but unlucky fast bowler. Along with Vinod Kambli, Salil was scraped from the squad as India were knocked out of the semifinals by Sri Lanka.

Salil switched to an acting career thereafter and found relative success there. He went on to share screen space with Sanjay Dutt in Kurukshetra along with featuring in some successful TV shows like CID and Big Boss (Season 1).

Akash Chopra

Credits Indian Express

Akash Chopra may not be the most forgotten cricketers on the list, but very few people know that he was once a highly-rated opener of his era. Chopra had amassed over 10,000 runs in the First Class cricket at a decent average of 45.35. Those figures also include a high score of 301*.

His form in domestic cricket led to the elusive Team India call up. Chopra’s debut and the initial matches against New Zealand were reasonable, scoring two fifties in the second Test. He seemed to gel well with veteran opener Virender Sehwag with whom he went on to record a 100-run partnership against Pakistan. However, fast forward to 10 Tests, and Chopra could manage only 437 runs at an average of 23.

In a country where there is no shortage of cricketing talent and the fact that there is the long list of players waiting for their chance to play at the top, Akash Chopra had to bow out of the national setup. After briefly playing for Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, Chopra took up the microphone.

With the emergence of Hindi commentary, Akash too made his name in the field and frequently features in the post-match analysis as well.

Sridharan Sriram

Credits Twitter

Sriram was a highly rated all-rounder from Tamil Nadu at one time. He started his cricketing journey as a left-arm spinner managed to take 29 wickets on India’s Under-19 tour of South Africa in the 1992-93 season. Howbeit, it was his batting for Tamil Nadu that brought him wide recognition.

His breakthrough season was in 1999-2000 when he scored an astounding 1,075 runs in the Ranji Trophy that was studded with 5 centuries. He went on to be named as the Indian Cricket Cricketer of the Year.

Consequently, his form saw Sriram being selected in 2000 the India national cricket team. On his ODI debut against South Africa at Nagpur, he managed to score 36 runs. However, that was insufficient as India would go on to lose the innings only by 9 runs.

While at one hand his form was dipping, on the other, India was also having a bad phase. Naturally, after 8 matches when he could manage only 81 runs (at a dismal average of 13.50), he was shown the door by the selectors. Sriram resumed scoring heavily for Tamil Nadu in domestic cricket.

More recently, he took charges as the bowling coach of IPL side Kings XI Punjab before consulting Australian team for its test series in Bangladesh.

Atul Bedade

Atul Begade (Extreme left) during his time as a Baroda coach (Credits Twitter)

In the late 90s, India was in serious shortage of attacking batsman, and there was a need felt by the selectors to include a big-hitting batsman in the ranks.

Enter Atul Bedade. The Mumbai-born batting prodigy had made a name for himself for the no-holds-barred approach in the domestic cricket. Atul Bedade used to prefer hitting more sixes than singles.

His role in the Indian team was simple – to come in at number 6 spot and provide firepower towards the end of the innings. Agreed, very few players on the planet hit the ball as hard as Begade. But, the batsman would be stuck on playing each delivery for a boundary. This play style was discerned and exploited with fair ease by the pacers.

In the 13 ODIs that he played over seven months, Atul could manage only one fifty – a 51 that he made against West Indies.

He was soon ousted from the team India, although he kept on playing for Baroda in the domestic cricket. Post-retirement, Begade went on to get certified in umpiring, pitch curating, and coaching. However, off late, he is more into politics, having contested for the Vadodara Municipal Corporation.

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Monish Gadiya is a Pune-based sports author and designer at KreedOn. He is a thorough tech-enthusiast and believes that innovation is the answer to the problems prevalent in the society. Monish graduated from University of Pune with a degree in civil engineering before pursuing a post-graduate diploma course in intellectual property rights. A die-hard football fan, he has represented his college at various football competitions.

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